Spoiled, Spoiled, & Spoiled...

You know your kids are spoiled when you walk through the toy section and see that they own just about every toy available and more (excluding an entertainment system which we will hold off on as long as possible) ! Not only have our kids been spoiled with Christmas gifts this year, but from love and attention of grandparents, aunts, and uncles. We were lucky to spend Christmas at my parent's house with my siblings and their wives and enjoyed playing with them while they all had vacation from school and work. It was a wonderful Christmas as we carried out family traditions of Santa pictures, the nativity play, and of course seeing people open gifts and receiving them. Santa brought the boys snowboards, and loved having their Uncles take them out on the "bunny hill" they built in the front yard. They also loved the basketball hoop they got from their grandparents and are enjoying plenty of exercise from shooting hoops. But, of course it's not about the gifts. My whole family has been "spoiled" this year with blessings of good health, happy kids, and most of all the gift of our Saviour Jesus Christ. We have had additions of two wonderful sisters/aunts, Miss Alanna, and a couple of cousins for our kids.

Only the beginning...

We have had steady snow dumps since Wednesday afternoon around here. I don't love the snow, I like it for Christmas, but if it all melted the day after that I wouldn't mind at all! Instead we live in a place that is known to snow from October to June (like last year). I have all of my major Christmas shopping done, I just need a few little stocking stuffers. My motivation to go outside, or even put on anything but sweats to go shopping is non-existent! We had great plans to go sledding Friday night, but it was too dangerous for our guests to even make it here. So, we watched movies and cleaned the house this past weekend. Uggh! This is only the beginning of winter! At least we have the holidays to look forward to for the next couple of weeks. Santa is supposed to bring snowboards for our boys this year, so, unlike their mother, maybe they will develop a love for the snow!

Always Fun Family Pictures...

All I want for Christmas is a decent family photo session. As you can see, it was a minor disaster! We got the kids ready for church early (a major ordeal alone) and I had Alanna fed and happy. I guess she just doesn't like to share camera time because as soon as we sat her down with her brothers she flipped out! The boys wouldn't look at the camera, Paul wouldn't keep his feet down, and they both were distracted by the Christmas tree. I won't even post the pictures we got with James and I in them. You may have noticed that James ruins every picture he is in, on purpose! He claims he doesn't know how to smile for pictures! I even threatened to take us all to a professional photographer if he couldn't make a decent face for the pictures. We just may have to do that!

Alanna did do pretty well on her own, although she wasn't as smiley as she usually is. Maybe she could sense what was on the horizon. The best shots usually come unplanned when you least expect them. Maybe I'll have to take some of those and paste them all together to get the "perfect picture"!

Comfortable????

My kids really don't seem to like their beds! The boys have been sleeping on the floor - inside their fleece pillow cases. My mom made beautiful bedding for Alanna, and we are almost done decorating her room. We are missing the key element - Alanna. She only likes to play in her crib during the day, at night she has to be in bed with mom and dad!

5 Months Old!!!!

Miss Alanna is 5 months old today. Where has the time gone? We love having a baby girl sooo much. James was a little nervous about having a girl, but he admits she has a special place in his heart. I can tell she has him wrapped around her finger - just as I suspected she would! Alanna is rolling over, grabbing everything she can reach and shoving it into her mouth, and squealing with delight every opportunity she gets. We are so blessed to have such a gorgeous, joyful, and healthy daughter!

Breakfast with Santa...

I'm sure Alanna and Pyper are thinking "give me some milk please!"

Jackson asked Santa for a nerf dart gun. Paul was too scared of Santa to sit on his lap, but he was willing to eat an orange roll!

Tag...

I have seen these questions going around, but I haven't answered them yet. My friend Tanya tagged me, and for anyone reading this who hasn't been tagged yet, please post...

8 TV shows I love to watch...
1. 24 - It's so annoying to have to wait until January for the rest!
2. American Idol - I don't know why, but I'm soooo addicted!
3. Bones
4. House
5. Numbers- Sometimes, haven't been watching it regularly
6. Oprah -If there is something good on like Dr. Oz!
7. The Office - One of my favorites!!! Why did Michael and Holly have to break up?
8. Ugly Betty - just started watching this season, I'm hooked though!

8 Things that Happened to me Yesterday...
1. Got an amazing email about my brother Paul who passed away 2 1/2 years ago.
2. Washed about every dish in the house after making neighbor Christmas goodie plates.
3. Read Christmas scriptures with our boys and they are actually understanding the stories
about the life of Christ!
4. Found that my husband had hacked into my blog and posted a very embarrassing picture of
me - thank goodness I checked it and deleted it before bed - hope nobody saw that!
5. Took a much needed but interrupted nap after a late night downtown watching the Symphony.
6. Enjoyed hearing Jackson read his beginner reading books.
7. Watched James clean up the bathtub after Paul pooped in it!
8. Almost walked out of the mother's room at church (after nursing Alanna) with the whole back of my shirt up! Luckily there is a mirror and I caught myself before leaving - close one!

8 Favorite places to eat...
1. Leatherbys - best ice cream ever, and so many great memories from growing up, and it James went there as part of our first date actually.
2. Cafe Rio - the salad!
3. Ruby Tuesdays
4. Wendy's frosties
5. 7-11 Slurpees
6. Subway
7. Quiznos
8. Where ever I can get candy!

8 Things I am looking forward to...
1. Christmas - I am giving some really exciting presents!
2. James to be done with overtime!
3. Paul being potty trained
4. Summer weather - long time away!
5. To be done with nursing - also a long time away!
6. Our backyard being finished!
7. The New Year!
8. After Christmas sales

7 Things on my Wish List...
1. More time to exercise, some time for myself in general!
2. Finished basement/backyard
3. Perfectly behaved children!!!
4. A stress free holiday season
5. Something to put in my wall cutouts in my family room (hint hint Andrew and Luke!)
6. Continued health and happiness for my family and myself
7. Wish to run a 1/2 marathon this spring

Poppy's 60th Birthday!

The day after Thanksgiving was my Dad's 60th Birthday. We decided to kidnap him for lunch. I had the pleasure of driving him around blindfolded, and he was pretty confused as to where we were going. We took him to a local diner that he loves and had a great time trying to stuff in a meal after Thanksgiving!

Later that night, we went bowling. Our boys have been bowling on the Wii, so they were really excited to try out "real" bowling. Luckily the Uncles stepped in to help the boys, because I am not the best bowler- I do good to break 100! Paul actually got a strike with bumpers set up. He also realized that he could slide down the lane, and towards the end he kept doing it on purpose!

Over the River and Through the Woods...

for Thanksgiving at the grandparent's house! Although my boys kept asking why we weren't making a treacherous journey through a river and forest, I was more than happy for the very short holiday journey! We had several fun filled activities this past weekend, and the boys were not ready to come home...not even to see J-dog! They cried and fussed and begged me to take them back after we went to church in our own ward. As you can see, they get so much love and attention from their grandparents and Uncles, it's easy to understand why they want to stay forever!

Uncle Caleb made a "gingerbread car"

Uncle Luke helped Jackson make a traditional gingerbread
house. Of course, Jackson was much more interested in eating the candy than constructing the house! What could we expect laying bags and bags of candy out on the table? It's every kid's dream come true!
Uncle Andrew's creation, no doubt inspired from his recent travels through Ecuador and Peru!
Uncle Andrew brought these hats from Peru, and they are
made of llama hair! Alanna also got a matching sweater
and gloves to go with her adorable hat. I got a beautiful
llama hair scarf, and James was given a tricky cube puzzle
to solve. Thanks for the souvenirs!





These candy turkeys are the only "turkey" my boys had
for Thanksgiving dinner!

Uncle Dan and Aunt Janell

Dan and Janell are great with kids, and our kids really do love them. I just caught some funny pictures of them that match - one of which was this weekend!

Cousins

This Sunday, Alanna's cousin Kaia was blessed. She is lucky to have two little girl cousins so close in age - Mikayla is 3 months, and Kaia is 2 months old. Of course, we all had to take pictures of the three beauties together - and I think they loved all of the attention. They were like celebrities with half a dozen cameras flashing in their faces and keys jingling trying to get them all to look the same direction. It will be so fun watching them grow up together!

Wow - 31!

I really am that old! My youngest brother, Luke, (whose b-day is 9 years and 1 day after mine) was shocked to find that out. He called on my birthday and said "are you like 30 now?" I'm afraid we are getting old! I don't feel "old" though. I do feel that I have accomplished much for my 31 years though, and I am healthy and happy - what more could I wish for. Ever since my brother, Paul, was killed in a car accident 2 1/2 years ago at the age of 25, my perspective on birthdays have changed. They should be a celebration of life, and the more years you have, the more to celebrate. I have so many blessings to be thankful for, namely my beautiful children!

For my birthday my family went to Leatherby's Family Creamery. We grew up going there in Sacramento, and it is the best ice cream ever (I'm a huge fan of ice cream). We were lucky enough to have James's parents in town to join us also. Thanks to my family for celebrating with us! And thanks to James for watching all three kids during the big BYU game while I went clothes shopping all by myself this weekend - for my b-day!

Christmas Spirit...

So, we were a little excited about our Christmas Tree this year, feel free to make fun (Maryann!). Let me tell you why though. We didn't get one last year because I wanted to wait and see if they went on clearance after Christmas - yeah right - they didn't! This year, the weekend after Halloween, we found the tree we wanted, a 12' pre-lit tree to take advantage of our tall ceilings. They were all out of this tree at our Walmart, so we came home, and James made some calls to other Walmarts to see if he could track down a tree. Everyone seemed to be out, but they said check back later in the week to see if more came in the mid-week shipment. Friday night we were out and decided to stop at a different Walmart hoping to get our hands on one of these coveted trees. After a full hour of phone calls, the representatives said only one store even remotely close to us had three trees left, and they would be it for the season.

The amazing thing is that another guy was at this same Walmart and ran into James while trying to get one of these trees that his wife "had to have" also. He offered to drive down to this store right away, which was a 45 minute drive and buy a tree for us also. We were a bit shocked and hesitant to take a complete stranger up on this offer. James offered him gas money or extra money for his time, but he refused. Out of the goodness of his heart he was willing to make this trip at 10:30pm, saying he understood how much I wanted the tree because his wife had to have it as well. We were both so touched by this simple act of kindness. What a great way to start off the Christmas season and to remember what it is all about. Our Christmas Tree now has a special meaning to our family, and it will always remind me of how a complete stranger showed us such a simple kindness that brought us such joy!

I finally got around to collecting all my paraphernalia to go in Alanna's baby book the other night. I came across a beautiful hand made card from my friend, Meredith, that she sent me a few months before Alanna was even born. It's so perfect for Alanna, and I just have to share the quote from Peter Pan ----

"When the first baby laughed for the first time, the laugh broke into thousands of pieces and they all went skipping about, and that was the beginning of fairies." J.M. Barrie

Doesn't that paint a lovely picture for you! I'm going to hang this card and Halloween picture of my baby in her room! Thanks to Meredith!

Miss Alanna hit the 4 month mark on November 10th. It's amazing how quickly those first few months go by, and in some ways, thank goodness! I love how interactive she is now, and I am able to know what she is wanting/needing much better now. So, it seems like Alanna is a very "jolly" baby (quite chubby), but when she weighed in at 14.10 lbs and 25"! Jackson was over 17 lbs at 4 months and 27". Paul was over 15 lbs, and 26". I guess compared to our other babies we should be thinking that Alanna is pretty small!

Family Resemblance?

Yesterday, after Jackson woke from his nap, he came bounding down the stairs and was intently telling me about his show and tell plans for preschool. I started thinking how much he is growing and changing into a little boy, and not looking much like a toddler anymore. He was really looking so much like a Williamson - like his dad! Surprise, surprise! So, I asked him if he looks like David (James's youngest brother whom everyone says looks like a young James), and Jackson growled "NNNOOOO". I said you must look like J-dog then, he again growled "NNNOOOO!". I asked him who he looks like then (just for fun), and he said he looks like Uncle Caleb (see my tall dark haired dark complected brother above). I asked him why he would ever think he looks like Caleb, and he said when he looks in the mirror, he just sees Caleb!

I suppose I found this so funny because my boys look exactly like their dad. Everyone says so! It's so obvious! They don't look like me or my family one bit! Every time I see my mom I ask her if Alanna looks like me. She swears that Alanna doesn't look anything like me as a baby... she may have my hair color, that's all! I just want a child who looks like me - I'm the one who was pregnant with them for 9 month, I'm the one who feeds them, bathes them, cuddles them! I just want them to be part of me - physically! Oh well, they do exhibit some of my personality traits.

1/2 White House Reunion

In college I lived in a house we referred to as "The White House". I have so many fun memories of that house. It has so much character, as most old houses do. We hosted parties for New Year's Eve, Cinco de Mayo, birthday parties, a couple of concerts, and ward prayer. Thanks to Hilary, we had a hammock in the front yard perfect for making out - usually by strangers none of us knew! During the winter we would all bundle up in blankets and sit around a space heater to keep warm. The house was so old that no matter what we set the thermostat to, it never warmed up! I guess my favorite thing about the house is that's where James and I met and later started dating. To my old White House roomies, what are your favorite memories of that house?????
Anyway...this past week, three of us (Angela, Jen, and I), had the opportunity to get together at Jen's house for lunch. It seems like only yesterday that we lived together, yet so much has happened in each of our lives. It was fun to catch up amidst the joyful screams of our children playing with toys, and two babies wanting to nurse constantly! Hopefully, all six of us will be able to get together this summer! I've already warned James that Alanna and I are taking a girls only trip!

Our family...

James....

as my brother puts it is very enigmatic. He keeps us laughing with the great efforts he goes to in attempts to save money (showering at work, collecting used soap scraps, patching jeans up with a flowered dish cloth, driving 55 mph on the freeway, trying to grow grass by spreading out grass clippings on our lawn). He has been caught on several occasions entering, and using, the women's' public restroom - one time was his first day of work! You'll often find that his mind is somewhere else - most likely working out a math problem or some engineering solution. In many ways he reminds us of Raymond, from "Everybody Loves Raymond", or Jim, from "According to Jim." Even though he likes to put on the front of being a "manly man" or a "tough guy", he is scared of amusement park rides and shots.

Sarah...
main author of this blog until James figures out my password. I love being a mom and feel very blessed with all of its challenges and rewards. If you know anything about me, you know that I love sugar ! I also have a severe phobia of rats - which I probably shouldn't be sharing! I have to admit it's pretty humorous at times though! I LOVE to have things clean and orderly - James would tell you I'm obsessive about it. I just can't stand having my house messy, least of all the bathrooms and kitchen. I love to run (mostly on my elliptical since I've had kids), I love to read, and I love to travel. Some of my favorite trips have been to B.C. Canada, Hawaii (twice), and best of all a three week tour of Europe (London, France, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, and Austria) with my roommates after graduating from college. James and I dream about going to Australia, where he served a two year church mission.


Jackson...

is wanting to be called "Snackson" lately. He is our brilliant 4 year old who refers to his parents affectionately as J-dog, and Sarah. Jackson is in his second year of preschool and is learning to read and write and loves it. His hobbies are t-ball, playing with his best friend Preston, and torturing his brother, Paul. Often times he will repeat what he hears on commercials (although he only gets to watch 1 hour of it every other day), and tell us that we need to get a washer and dryer that has the steam fresh option (we already do, and that made him very excited), and he loves to tells us things like "did you know that Oreos are milk's favorite cookie?"

Paul...

or Pauly Pooper, or Beep, is our 2 1/2 year old who has more energy than we know what to do with. He is named after my brother, Paul, who is in heaven looking down on us laughing about sending us such a stinker! He delights in making messes and causing trouble, but he can be the sweetest, cuddliest little boy too. He LOVES his little sister, and he needs to know where she is at all times!


Alanna...

is our adorable little princess! Despite a horrible pregnancy, she came out so calm and sweet, and beautiful. We are so lucky to have a little girl to soften J-dog's heart. Little girls just seem to find a niche in their father's heart we never knew existed. And thank goodness we had a girl this time, because I don't know what we would do with another crazy little boy running around our house!

Top 5 Reasons to Blog...

1. I think it's part of my religion - every Mormon does it!
2. It's a great way to journal the daily happenings of our kids.
3. I need one more distraction! :)
4. My parent's can't figure out Facebook to see our pictures!
5. My family looks at Maryann's blog hoping to catch a picture of our kids!